Vol 10 Chapter 160 (2/2)
“I’ this one”
She jumped off her horse, and with her sword in one hand, she cut down the few foot soldiers co at her chest allowed her the use of Skills
And seeing it, the co the soldiers shouted out
“She’s a Skillholder! Surround her and take her down first!”
He ordered his subordinates, but Aria was s a bit under her helmet
“Too slow!”
Her own Skill… with Quick, her movements beca at the co officer, she cut down the foot soldiers around him as well
Her dime-a-dozen sword had becoe, and the blood covering it
Perhaps she could still use it as a blunt weapon, but Aria hadn’t polished her blunt-weapon handling skills up too much
She picked up a sword off the ground, pierced her oord in in its place, and took in her surroundings With eyes of fear, the soldiers of Selva were looking at her
There, a single knight came out before her
He had pierced a single knight of Zayin with his spear, before discarding it, pulling out his sword, and trying to lower it at Aria
When Aria hit the bow aside, her opponent jumped down from his horse, landed, and set his aim on her
In the weed-ridden ground, the foliage came up to his knees
Yet he wasaround quite freely in his armor, as he locked blades with Aria
(This one’s strong!)
Aria tried to retreat to ed to hold his sword against his opposite hip
(It’s co!)
Aria suddenly leapt to the side, as a shockwave sed up the surrounding grass Aria was able to use a similar Skill, but the similar yet different Skill caused her interest to be piqued
Under her helhed
“Very nice I’ve never really gotten the chance to go against a Skillholder”
Aria tried to jump into his chest area, but he closed in the distance at the same time Her Skill-reinforced sword let off sparks, and the blade chipped away
But her opponent’s sas perfectly intact
“Ao for?”
There knight of Selva spoke
“Invader… be cut down by my blade!”
After clashi+ng a few times with her picked up sword, Aria felt she was at a disadvantage against her opponent’s physical strength
His sas of splendid craftsic Tool She eetting torn up into an unusable state
Aria tossed aside her sword, and drew the dagger she kept at the back of her hip And retrieving a stick with her right hand, she swiftly fastened the dagger’s hilt to its end
As her eneer-turned-short spear to block, before kicking him off
The eneht… he surely had experience, but his swordplay was by the book He had likely th and Skill
Through his visor, the knight glared at Aria
“You kno to use your legs, woman!”
On her enehed
“And you’re too well mannered!”
Saying that, she stepped in, and used a Skill Quick
As her hed her attack, and even countered He had enough ability to keep up with her accelerated movements, so Aria made use of another Skill
Body strengthening…
Weapon hardening…
And after taking a big step forward
“Slash”
The first tiate bandits The bandit leader had stolen her red gem, and had shown off the use of the Skill
But the Slash Aria used wasn’t the same one the bandit let out In sharpness, and destructive poith Aria’s physical ability, and talent, it had all been dragged her
The knight opened his eyes wide, as Aria’s short spear cut a deep gash into his plate armor
By her feint, his oord only cut fruitlessly through the air
Blood poured out of his helmet, and when Aria withdrew her short spear, it flowed from his abdomen as well Her body was splashed with the blood spurt
The collapsing knight addressed her
“T-tell me your name”
And Aria replied
“It’s Aria Lockwarde”
While she couldn’t see the knight’s face, it see And he looked around
“… It is our loss If you’re going to steal a weapon off the battleground… you ht as well use mine instead And Aria…”
Around the slain, andthemselves
Aria kept wary of her surroundings, as she heard the knight’s final words
“The next time we meet… will be in hell”
She offered a short prayer to the deceased knight And she accepted his sword She took off his scabbard as well, and after inspecting it, she found it really was a Magic Tool
“… I can only really use it as a well-em’s Skills otherwise”
With her spoils of war in hand, she heard the soldiers raise a cry of victory
Looking at the fortress, she saw they had raised the white flag of surrender And watching it wave, she gripped the sword, and thought
(hell, is it… but this scene is yet another hell)
Around, the bodies of Selvian knights and soldiers And though less than those frohts and soldiers were littered around as well…
–
–
–
… The news that came to Lorphys’ cah a border fortress within three days
Alette received the notice as well, and when she heard the specifics of it, she was shocked
It was night
As the light of the lantern lit up her tent, Alette gripped the document in both hands The small number of days wasn’t the problem
In truth, Lorphys had done much the same to a fortress of Selva
But what she couldn’t believe on the report form was the numbers
“They don’t even have ten thousand? What’s ht it doith essentially four thousand troops… at the lowest estimate, the enemy should have nuht it doith those numbers?”
Nor side had the advantage in a fortress battle
Quite a few conditions were necessary, but even so, with only a little more troops, it wasn’t a situation that would work out so easily
And in all actuality, Lorphys had pushed through with numbers
Reading down the report, she saw the name of Creit, of whom she hadn’t the chance to invite to her side
He had taken the general’s head, and perforreatest service, or so it ritten
But Alette had noticed
“… They purposely gave Creit all the achievements I do admit if you use him like this, he’ll shi+ne quite nicely”
Creit’s strong and weak points were known to her She knew, them, but didn’t try to invite him herself
Creit was good at faithfully fulfilling whatever was asked, but only perfore when the situation called for hie, perhaps
You needed to be quite a general to ood use of Creit, or so she appraised the man
“He’s not ordinary As a knight, and as a general, he’s first class… a genius of sorts”
Alette never thought Lyle to be a knight of such caliber, but there, the question surfaced
“Then why did the Walt House drive him out? It didn’t seem that he had any particular problems, but… female relations? Did he lay hands on a woman he shouldn’t have? It’s possible I have to warn the royal princess one of these days”
Letting out a sign, she straightened out the clenched papers, and neatly folded them… there, it came to her
“No, wait! He’s an upfront womanizer, and if he’ll even lay hands on people he shouldn’t… the royal princess… even Annerinne san… if it comes to that, then Lorphys will be…!”
With a flash of inspiration, Alette immediately went off to consult with her adjutant She leapt out of the tent, and in the now-vacant space, the report she had abandoned leisurely drifted down to the floor…